ecnarf

I was talking to shade. For example, this story.. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...ml?hpid=artslot Mm hmm. Honestly, all this "there is a lesson to be learned" thing smacks of bullshit. Shit happens that is purely senseless, where there isn't a lesson to be learned. Virginia Tech: someone who was certifiably nuts finally cracks and kills a bunch of people. What lesson can be learned from the death of a friend or family member who was killed by a lunatic? Other than the obvious "value the time with those who are around you" platitudes.

Dude, much of this is due to brain chemistry, not to conscious thoughts. Soldiers, for example, are some pretty tough motherfuckers. But because of the shit they see their minds get right fucked. You'd be hard pressed to tell a Marine Force Recon or a Navy SEAL that he just needs to toughen up and get over watching all of his buddies die or sitting there helplessly as insurgents attack and torture an entire village.

See, there's something you're not getting. There are traumatic events that physically prevent someone from functioning. Rob sleep. Emotionally cripple them. Ruins relationships, careers, etc. The "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" has some pretty obvious limits.

Contradicts my what? See, just because some things can cause a person to smarten and/or toughen up doesn't mean that all traumatic experiences are good in the long run. For example, I would like you to tell a victim of paedophilia whose mind has been completely fucked up by it that the experience is good for them because it makes them tougher and a better person. It's tantamount to saying (although I'm sure you don't mean to imply it) that you wouldn't be a good person without the being raped as a boy thing.

Me and Shade are big boys, we can handle personal insults.

That contradicts your earlier statement. I do agree that traumatic events proide the opportunity for a person to become stronger. But this is a case where a traumatic memory can lead to paedophilia. If (and that's a fairly big if, I'll admit) this drug could prevent the victim from becoming the abuser through reducing the intensity of the memory, what downfall is there? EDIT: Lauren, bugger off. Me and shade are having a decent and remotely intelligent conversation. If you're uncomfortable with that, as you like to tell so many other people, just don't read it.

You have an enormous track record saying a wide variety of stupid shit when it comes to gay people. In the first place, losing or having a partner die is by no means uncommon. Tragic? Absolutely. Traumatic? Not really. So it's really outside the scope of both this thread and what the drug can apparently do. And then there's the nasty little detail of the person being entirely capable of performing that research whether or not his boyfriend had died. Being molested as a child is no excuse for paedophilia. I feel sorry for the victim, not the criminal.

We're talking about what is widely considered the most despicable crime someone can commit. There is an enormous gap between simply going through garden variety shit that life throws at most people and being the victim of paedophilia. Need I repeat? Enormous. To my mind, this drug is in the same class as other anti-anxiety meds. What is wrong with reducing the intensity of a memory so powerful and horrific that it prevents someone from functioning normally?

"Strength" at what cost?

You can't be fucking serious about this. What can POSSIBLY be learned about getting anally raped as a 10 year old by your priest? I'm fucking serious here. I would love to see you try to answer this.

Shiri, that's nothing but pure anecdote. Your friend is most likely an exception to the rule. I was watching a documentary last night on the Catholic Church's covering up of pedophile priests, and many of the victims were telling their stories. They're not better because of it. Even in middle age and beyond, they are broken shells of human beings. It's fucking preposterous to suggest that there are lessons to be learned from having a gruesome crime committed against you. One person becoming better out of it changes nothing.

Like, uh, nine months before your birthday? That or the mailman.

I don't get it. I'm even trying to find that Simpsons clip of Homer flipping through that calendar in the nuclear shelter saying "I don't get it" over and over but I can't find it.

It's some pretty neato stuff but the only stats I might ever be taking would have to do with p-values and experimental uncertainty.

That "burn" is breast cancer.

Propanolol? The organic chemist in me just vomited a little bit. Nonetheless. Ignorance is not bliss, no matter how much you try to tell yourself otherwise.

You're stealing my comic gold.

Mentoses my Diet Coke.

No. Just awesomeness.

I'm saying it's a false choice.

I'm not convinced my parents have ever had sex.

Wanna cry together about it?

This just turned into the best thread ever.

I, for one, agree with Shade.

Hold the phone. What's x and p(x) stand for? The only real advanced math I've done is calculus.